Spare us! We’re in for five more years of Bercow

COMMONS Speaker John Bercow has announced he will stand again at the general election, raising the prospect he could stay in the role for another five years.

When elected Speaker in 2009 he pledged to serve for nine years, and in Westminster it has been rumoured he could stand down.

Yesterday a spokesman said Mr Bercow had ‘every intention’ of running for re-election as an MP – but refused to speculate on when he would stand down as Speaker.

Tory MPs warned a rival could challenge Mr Bercow for the position when Parliament returns.

Backbencher James Duddridge – who led an unsuccessful attempt to topple the Speaker earlier this year – said: ‘Mr Bercow said in his manifesto he would go by June 2018.

‘I for one would object and try to force a vote on this issue when Parliament returns.

‘I would also expect strong independent candidates to stand against him at the general election. Speaker Bercow has not improved in any way shape or form.’

Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke said: ‘ This time around there will have to be a vote. Last time it was nodded through. We need to wait to see the result of the general election. We will see if he has the level of support he has now.’ Mr Bercow’s spokes- man said: ‘The Speaker is planning to, and has every intention of, standing in the forthcoming general election.’

The MP in the role of Speaker is traditionally not opposed by rival parties at a general election, so Mr Bercow is likely to be returned on June 8. But his critics expect him to face a challenge for the Speaker role.

Whoever holds the position chairs Commons debates. Mr Bercow has been a controversial occupant, and has enraged some Tory MPs who accuse him of bias.

The bid to remove him this year was sparked by his decision to ‘ban’ Donald Trump speaking to Parliament when he visits the UK later this year. Accusing the US President of ‘racism and sexism’, he said Mr Trump would not be allowed to address MPs and peers.

The Speaker’s intervention sparked accusations of hypocrisy as he had welcomed China’s president in 2015 and the emir of Kuwait in 2012 – countries notorious for human rights abuses.

Mr Bercow was forced to apologise to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler, for not consulting him before announcing the ban.

It also emerged that, despite a duty of impartiality, Mr Bercow boasted of backing Remain in the EU referendum.

During a talk to students at Reading University he accused Brexit campaigners of telling ‘untruths’, and called for a raft of EU regulations to continue after the UK leaves the bloc.

When David Cameron was PM, he and the Speaker fell out repeatedly, amid accusations of bias against the Government.

Mr Bercow also faced criticism over an attempt to hire an ‘unqualified’ Australian to the £ 200,000- a- year post of Commons clerk, his lavish spending on refurbishing the Speaker’s official residence and his jet- setting at taxpayers’ expense.

His Labour deputy Lindsay Hoyle is the favourite to take over the Commons chair, but faces a battle to hold on to his Chorley seat.